That is actually my only iOS device at the moment and it certainly has been slower with each update. I do understand the benefit of building an OS to more current specs but unlike a desktop PC where you can add a stick of RAM or a newer GPU for $50-100, it seems to hit mobile devices a lot harder.

On one hand, nobody wants to buy a shiny new device and find that the software isn't taking advantage of the hardware you paid for in order to preserve performance on older models. On the other hand, the more rapid pace of mobile hardware development and the inability to add inexpensive upgrades can make it seem like you have little choice but to replace the things every couple of years.

It doesn't help that there's no official way to downgrade if your experience is unsatisfactory (no reinstalling XP on that old beater PC because it doesn't have the RAM to run Vista well, etc) and applications quickly start to require the latest version of the OS for program updates.

My oldest iOS device is an iPad2, and I upgraded everything but that. The 4th generation iPad was fine, but it sounds like I made a good call holding off on the iPad2.

My original iPad couldn't even upgrade past iOS 6. Want to trade?